


Aziraphale's Dragon

by BrynTWedge



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Aziraphale to the rescue, Dragons, M/M, Medieval England, Miscellaneous demons - Freeform, Welsh Dragon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-20
Updated: 2019-10-14
Packaged: 2020-05-15 07:57:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19291534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrynTWedge/pseuds/BrynTWedge
Summary: It's the Middle Ages in England, and Aziraphale has been captured and thrown into the castle's dungeon to be fed on by the Beast - a dragon.Turns out, he knows the dragon.[Don't know where I'm taking this, it's writing itself, but there will be a dragonrider Aziraphale in here somewhere]





	1. Chapter 1

Aziraphale was shoved unceremoniously through the grate. “Please, I beg of you, listen to me. I’m not your enemy! I don’t want to hurt anyone!”

 

The guards, clad in armour, ignored him and locked the metal door. “You’ll not be causing any more harm to this kingdom, warlock,” one guard grumbled at him. “Die in the fires of hell you came from!” cried the other. “The Beast is no match for you.”

 

“But that makes no sense, a demon wouldn’t die in hellfire,” he argued back. The guards just turned and left, the clanking of their armour reverberating over the stone walls. “I’m not a demon,” Aziraphale protested quietly to himself, “and so I actually will die in the fires.” He trembled. He really wished _his_ demon would show up and help him.

 

_No_ , he told himself. _Crowley isn’t ‘my’ demon._ He heard movement behind him and whimpered. “Crowley, if you’re there, I could really use you,” he whispered despite his reservations.

 

He felt powerless. He couldn’t miracle himself out of this situation. The creature they had chained in the cavern below the castle was, Aziraphale was almost certain, a dragon from Hell. The knights talked of it – large, vicious, and fire-breathing. What they likely didn’t know that dragons were magical beings like angels, and demons for that matter, and so had a natural immunity to miracles used against them.

 

There were dragons in heaven, after all. Some had Fallen along with the demons, and some had remained with the angels. He’d known some of them in his time before Eden. If he was honest with himself, he’d gotten along with some dragons better than his fellow angels. But that only had made him understand how serious his situation was now. Dragon fire was some of the first in Hell, and so the breath of a fallen dragon could possibly kill him permanently.

 

The sounds of movement stilled his body in panic. It sounded large. His stomach flipped. He’d held onto the small hope that it was only a small usher one, a metre tall and almost spherical, as they weren’t nearly as dangerous. No luck here, however.

 

_Please, Crowley, if you’re out there…_ Aziraphale hadn’t realised how much he’d come to depend on his tentative friendship with Crowley. He’d tried to deny it as best he could – they were supposed to be enemies, after all – but here, facing actual _death_ and not just discorporation, he discarded those arguments holding him back.

 

One large footstep, and then another, and out of the shadow a large form appeared. Aziraphale looked up in fear, and then squinted his eyes as the creature came into the light. It was pure white. He frowned, and the creature stopped and observed him as well with its great blue eyes.

 

The dragon cocked its head to the side. “Aziraphale? Is that you?”

“Aiwyn?” Aziraphale was flabbergasted. “What are you doing here?”

“Got captured, didn’t I?” she chuckled.

“I meant, what are you doing on Earth? I thought you were still doing Holy Transport?”

 

Aiwyn frowned, and then settled herself down. “You mean, you don’t know?”

“Know what?”

“Aziraphale, there aren’t dragons in heaven anymore.”

“ _What?_ ”

“We were exiled.”

“What for heaven’s sake for?”

“That, apparently.” Aiwyn sighed and shrugged her shoulders. “We weren’t seen as worthy enough, maybe? I don’t know exactly. Just suddenly… we didn’t belong in heaven anymore. Some of the Archangels didn’t like having us around. I’d heard whispers about it, on my rounds. Personally, I believed that some of them just became uncomfortable with the fact that they don’t have complete control over us. And there was something…”

 

“Yes?” he prompted, still shocked. “What?”

“Rumours. That something was coming… something terrible, and God was just going to let it happen. Gragoch found out and was outraged, and then God and the angels didn’t trust any of us anymore. They’re all pretty tetchy about being betrayed, as you know.”

 

Aziraphale looked down, frowning. No, none of that sounded good. Dragons of heaven had always been wonderful. Good hearted, placid, fair, not interested in much beyond personal happiness – food, peace, stories, that kind of thing, not the selfish disregard for others that the Hell Dragons had – intelligent, and curious. He’d gotten on well with them because they _liked_ asking questions, something the other angels seemed to want to chastise out of him.

 

“So we were all sent to Earth. We hadn’t actually done anything, so we didn’t Fall, but still had to be somewhere that wasn’t where we could interfere with the Great Plan.”

“That’s terrible; I’m so sorry.”

“Yeah.” Aiwyn rumbled sadly. “It was a lesson hard earned for us all.”

“Lesson?”

“That Heaven is only interested in themselves, and their idea of what constitutes good.”

“But what they believe constitutes good is actually good.”

 

Aiwyn snorted. “Good people don’t cast out brethren in fear of being betrayed.”

“I-I… that is to say, it’s not for us to question. It’s ineffable.”

 

Aiwyn raised her head and let her teeth show as she looked down on Aziraphale. It was quite intimidating. “That’s what they want. Blind obedience and faith. Not to question, but to follow. You want to know why? Because they don’t want you to realise that actually, they’re not what they’ve tried to get you to believe. They have their agenda, and don’t care of morality in pursuit of it.”

“No!” Aziraphale shouted. “No, stop saying that. It’s not true.”

“Oh, it is. I didn’t see it at first; I was like you. But you will. Give it time.”

 

Aziraphale had the feeling in his gut, the same one he felt when he and Crowley spoke, that he couldn’t identify. One that he desperately tried to pack away and never realise what it was. He swallowed, not wanting to keep engaging his cellmate (no longer executioner) in an argument.

 

“How much time would that be, then?” he asked, almost rhetorically, seating himself on a rock. He hoped he didn’t have to wait for it in that prison.

“Not long now,” she muttered in response, having sensed his unwillingness to continue the conversation. “Give it forty years.”

 

Aziraphale screwed up his face with uncertainty, but said nothing in response. Things were going well, had been for almost two hundred years, and he couldn’t imagine how anything could happen so extreme to cause infighting in Heaven.

 

They lapsed into silence, where the only sound was the regular dripping of water off the ceiling.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aziraphale escapes the cell.

“Why do you stay here?” Aziraphale asked eventually.   
“It’s not like I have much of a choice,” Aiwyn answered, tugging at the metal chain affixed around her throat.   
“No, I mean, surely it would be easy to free yourself.”   
“It’s not.” 

Aziraphale puffed out his chest proudly and flicked his hand to miracle her free. He had to take a moment, blinking, as he saw that nothing happened. He tried again, but the chain remained in place. He frowned. 

“This place is cursed,” Aiwyn explained, a little spiteful. “Of course I would have magicked myself free otherwise.” 

Aziraphale nodded. Dragon magic was different to the miracles he performed. Theirs was more telekinetic, and couldn’t affect the timeline. It did, however, possess the intrinsic resistance to miracle magic that gave it effectiveness over angels and demons. If Aiwyn decided to lift him up, there was nothing Aziraphale could do about it. 

He looked at the gate and tried to miracle it open. He then tried to miracle the entire metal barred wall away, or even loose, but it was futile. Aziraphale slumped, and tried to ignore the fear that started to bloom again in his chest. 

“Tried that too,” Aiwyn said to him. She sighed. “I don’t see the point of escaping, really. What’s out there to look forward to? More humans with their swords.”  
“I don’t understand why you cannot simply remove them from your presence.”

Aiwyn’s eyes squinted into slits. “You can thank the Almighty for that.” She sneered, teeth bared. Aziraphale looked at her quizzically. “Humans are not of dragon jurisdiction,” she explained. “Therefore, She saw fit to exclude our powers regarding them and their actions.”   
“I see.”  
“Must not interfere with Her oh-so Greg Plan.”

“It is not for us to judge the Almighty,” Aziraphale said reflexively. It was sounding more and more like conversing with Crowley. Where is he? Perhaps he could help?  
“Oh, no, it’s entirely for me to, now that I – along with the rest of my kind – have been exiled.”   
“I say, my dear,” Aziraphale said, not going to comment on her last statement. “I do believe I might have the solution.” She raised a scaly-feathered eyebrow at him. “My,” – Aziraphale caught himself in his throat and coughed – “er, associate, would still have his powers here. He could free us. Just… we may have to wait a while.”

“I don’t understand.”  
Aziraphale cleared his throat and turned away, mumbling, “He’s a demon.”  
“What?”  
He looked down at the stone floor and flickered his eyes up to meet the dragon’s big blue ones. “He’s a demon,” he repeated, louder. 

Aiwyn just stared for a moment. She let her jaw slacken, but lips kept her teeth hidden. “Eeehhh…” she rumbled, blinking. “You’re serious?”  
“Yes.”  
“And why would this demon help us?”  
“I… if you must know, we’ve become rather close over the millennia.”   
“Close? With a demon?”  
“Alright alright, don’t judge me until you meet him.”  
“Oh, no, not judging. I’m impressed, Aziraphale. It’s most unlike you.”  
“Not anymore,” he mumbled. “And Crowley isn’t like most demons either.”

“There’s still one problem. We’re in here, and your friend is out there.”  
“He might turn up. As I said, it may take a while, but he does generally show up eventually.”  
“You have a lot of faith in him, Angel.”  
Aziraphale blushed. “I-I suppose I do. Faith isn’t a bad thing.”  
“No, of course not.” Aiwyn smiled knowingly at him. “However I have something better.”  
“Hm?”

She indicated to follow her into the darker part of the cell. Aziraphale obliged, standing close to her shoulder lest her great tail knock him in the dark. He could make out the general shapes of rocks, enough to avoid them, and to see they’d reached the end of the cell. 

Aiwyn reared up and pulled at a large boulder. The rock scraped loudly, but came away clean. Light pierced through the hole left behind. “Here,” she uttered. “You can escape through here.”  
“I… I don’t know,” Aziraphale answered, his voice shaky. He never liked closed spaces… or dirt, for that matter.   
“It’s plenty wide enough for you to fit.”

He yelped as two large paws suddenly grabbed him and lifted him up towards the hole. It was indeed larger from her view, enough for him to crawl out with his armour on. It was still a small stone tunnel, and it set him on edge just thinking about it. 

“Are you sure you don’t simply wish to wait for Crowley?”  
“No, Aziraphale. Besides; if you don’t escape by morning, the humans will come back and kill you themselves.”  
“What? And please, for the rest of this conversation, can you put me down?”

He was placed gently back on the stone floor. “I am given prisoners to eat. Luckily for me, I don’t require food, much like you. I refused at first, but they would just come and slaughter them before me. Desperate, I found this tunnel and would set the prisoners free through here provided they never spoke of it and never returned.”   
“That was lucky.”   
“Yes. A real miracle.” She chuckled to herself. She then sighed, the breath blowing through Aziraphale’s hair. “Just… stay with me for a while?”  
“Of course.”  
“They won’t come for you until morning. It would be nice to spend time with a friend again.” 

~

“I can’t just leave you here.”   
“You have to,” Aiwyn said. “There’s no way for me to escape. The cell is cursed, Aziraphale. And even if you somehow managed to get the bars to disappear, there’s still a hoard of angry humans on the other side.” 

Aziraphale sighed. Aiwyn did have a point. Humans, unfortunately, had been aggressively killing dragons for centuries. “What’ll happen to you?” he asked. 

Aiwyn lowered her blue eyes. “I’ll just be here.” She looked directly at him. “But I’ll be alive.”  
“I’m sorry that Heaven sent you away. I’d say that you’d like it here, since for me, it’s really a nice place with lots of…” Aziraphale stopped himself. He took a breath. “But I understand why you wouldn’t. Humanity can be capable of great horrors, unfortunately. I try not to let those spoil all the wonderful things.” 

The dragon smiled at him. “You always were optimistic and positive to a point of fault,” she said. “Now. Up you go.” She lifted him up with her nose and tossed him into the small opening. 

Aziraphale had to clench his jaw to stop himself from panicking. The walls were closing in. Suddenly he felt a tugging on him. “I say, what are you doing?” he cried behind him.   
“I need one of your boots and half of your cape.”  
“What? Why?”  
“Well, when the guards some back, they’ll want to know what happened to you.”   
“I don’t understand.”

Aiwyn looked blankly at him. “Think about it.”   
“Oh,” Aziraphale gasped. “No, I don’t understand. Wouldn’t they realise that I would need to remove more armour to slip through the bars?” 

Aiwyn blinked. “How did you get picked to be the Guardian of the Eastern Gate,” she mumbled to herself. She grabbed one of the metal boots, and then bit onto the fabric of his cape, yanking it so that it tore with a loud noise. 

“Now go,” she pressed, and nosed him further up the tunnel. Aziraphale swallowed and shuffled forward. He focused on the only thing that he found calming: Crowley. 

By the time he managed to get himself out into the open air, he knew he had to find the demon to enlist his help in freeing Aiwyn.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aiwyn gets set free... but things don't go to plan.

“How the Heaven should I know?” Crowley asked, throwing his arms up in the air.

“Please, Crowley. She’s chained up underground.”

“My problem isn’t if I should help, it’s how, Angel.”

 

Aziraphale tilted his head in confusion. Crowley grumbled and picked himself up out of the chair he was lounging on. Aziraphale hadn’t had to look far to find the demon; he rarely had to anymore. Crowley kept in his general vicinity most of the time these days. It filled him with a warm feeling he was intent on not analysing too carefully.

 

“So you will?”

 

Crowley snorted as he sighed. “Yes, Angel, I’ll help. Just don’t let anyone know,” he hissed, looking about the tavern.

“Of course not. The usual.” Aziraphale smiled into his mead. He really preferred wine, but it was hard to find.

 

~

 

It turned out that getting into the castle had been rather easy. Crowley insisted that they couldn’t just miracle themselves inside, lest their sides work out what they were doing. Aziraphale had been expecting to have to fight his way in, or sneak about in the dark. Crowley had been all for that, but instead opted to just stroll in the front door as if he owned the place.

 

The guards didn’t pay them any mind. There were many people rushing about, some festival or another happening soon, and so they walked the halls mostly unnoticed. Their only trouble came with the guards to the dungeon. Aziraphale pointedly didn’t ask about what Crowley had done to cause the way to suddenly be clear of men.

 

The air was cold in front of the bars of the cell. “Aiwyn? Are you there?” Aziraphale called.

 

There was a rumble and a large shift, and then a large white head stepped into the light. “Aziraphale? What are you doing here?”

“We’ve come to rescue you.”

“I told you, silly Principality, that this dungeon is cursed by demons.”

“And I brought one along to lift it.”

 

Aiwyn looked to Crowley, her eyes squinting. She then nodded. She stepped back at Crowley’s instruction. Aziraphale watched as his friend concentrated, and then felt a wave of energy emanate outwards. Suddenly the area didn’t feel so cold and foreboding anymore. Aziraphale let out a sigh of relief.

 

Aiwyn then rammed the metal of the bars with her shoulder. The earth around them cracked, dust fell down, but the bars remained intact.

 

“Oh, my dear, allow me.” Aziraphale then waved his hand, the bars disappearing.

 

No sooner had the dragon smiled and taken a step back, the ground shook and fire burst out from below.

 

“Demons!” Crowley shouted. “Run!”

 

Aiwyn roared and leapt forward, but it was too late. A tall muscled demon rose up and blocked the exit, his skin dark as night and smile cold. Aiwyn snorted and blew fire at him, but he just waved it away. Aziraphale yelped as hands grabbed him; two women had appeared from nowhere.

 

Crowley stepped backwards, but didn’t flee. His eyes were fixed on the ominous presence guarding the door. He seemed unconcerned with the large dragon baring its teeth at him, and took the steps slowly towards them.

 

“Well well, what do we have here? A prison break?”

“Who are you?” Crowley snapped. Aziraphale could tell he was using false bravado – Crowley never was any good in a fight. He’d bluff, put on a show, and use his mind to outwit an enemy instead.

“I am Jodar, Duke of Hell. Who are you, lowly demon?”

“Hastur,” Crowley answered.

 

Jodar looked slightly amused. “My, haven’t you changed, _Hastur_ , since our last meeting.”

 

Aziraphale could see the moment Crowley swore to himself in his head. Jodar strolled up to look Crowley directly in the eye. “Why don’t you try again?”

“Crowley.” Crowley huffed, and smiled. “Can’t help lying, you know. In the blood and all.”

 

Jodar flickered his eyebrow. “What are you doing here? Why did you break the dragon from the cell?”

“Because… because…” Crowley looked at Aziraphale, then to Aiwyn. “Because she didn’t need to be locked away anymore.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I-I mean, clearly,” Crowley answered, gaining back some of his confidence. “She’s already turned to our side. She doesn’t need to be locked down here when we could be putting her to use.”

 

Jodar huffed and turned to face Aiwyn. “It is true, Lord Jodar. I was exiled from Heaven. I was sent to live here in this disgusting human residence. I only sought peace, but they came after me. Humans, Heaven’s great project, slaughtered my sisters and brothers. They chained me down here, where there was a curse already so I couldn’t be free. Heaven turned its back on me; I hold no allegiance to them. I would gladly see this place burn.”

 

The pit of Aziraphale’s stomach dropped. Aiwyn sounded like she wasn’t lying. She’d already told him of her distaste for Heaven given what they’d done, but it couldn’t be possible that she’d turn, was it?

 

Jodar looked satisfied. “Well, demon Crowley. Looks like you’ve done well. But tell me, what is this,” – Jodar looked at Aziraphale with disgust – “ _angel_ doing here?”

“Came to foil me. Thought that he was saving the dragon, as if I was going to kill it. Ha! How wrong he was.”

 

Aiwyn leaned in to Aziraphale, snarling. “Leave him, he’s mine,” she snarled at the two demons holding onto him. Aziraphale swallowed uncomfortably.

 

“Please, Aiwyn, I-I know Heaven has treated you badly,” Aziraphale started, but was silenced by a hiss.

“Find Gargoch,” she whispered. “He’s the only one who can help now.”

 

Aziraphale looked at her, confused. Before he could ask more, Jodar announced that he would see for himself where Aiwyn’s loyalty lay. Crowley looked nervous, but unable to do anything with the two demons by his side.

 

“You can’t run, Angel. You can’t miracle yourself away either,” Jodar announced. Aziraphale then tried, but realised with a shock that Jodar wasn’t lying. He swallowed again. No miracles, demonic or otherwise, in the presence of the power of a Duke of Hell. Well, usually. It couldn’t hurt to try.

 

Aiwyn looked at Aziraphale, and then to the door. He got the message, to run, but when remained a question. He watched as the intimidating Jodar placed his hand on Aiwyn and she went still. Her eyes went black, and she roared.

 

“Traitor,” Aiwyn growled, in sync with Jodar. “Crowley is working in league with the angel,” they continued. “Seize him.”

 

Suddenly the demons grabbed Crowley and brought him to his knees. Aziraphale jumped forward to help, but Aiwyn slammed her foot down before him. “No,” she and Jodar said together. “You will watch as I take this seed of hurt and turn it into hate.”

 

Aiwyn started to thrash her head, and the Duke’s attention was focused on his task. He locked eyes with Crowley, who nodded slightly. Aziraphale took his chance and fled through the door.

 

_I’m sorry, Crowley._


End file.
